Interview-HR Interview
Cognizant Technology Solutions arranged a campus recruitment program in our college (HIT, Haldia) on 27th December, 2010. Our reporting time was at 6.45 am. Around 650 students appeared in that recruitment process. But, only 316 students were able to qualify the first round i.e, Aptitude test. The question pattern of Cognizant is totally different from other companies. So, you should be well prepared to qualify. And there is no negative marking, so, attempt all questions.
In the answer sheet, there are some questions like follows.
1. Your software exposure.
2. Your hobbies and interests.
3. What do you expect from Cognizant?
4. What is your long term and short term plan?
5. Which skills one should have to be successful in software industry?
6. Which skills among them do you have?
Answer these questions properly, because these answers are very important even than your CV. This answer sheet will be forwarded to the interviewer and they can discuss about these answers with you while PI or personal Interview.
At 2.30 pm result of aptitude. Test published and thank god, my name was in the list. And the next round was PI (Technical+HR) at 7.30 pm, I went to the interview room from a waiting room (In that room we waited for interview).
Me: May I come in sir?
Sir: Oh, Mr. Kallol, can you give me 5 minutes more, please?
Me: Yes, of course. (I was very nervous)
[Sir was giving marks to the previous candidate] After 5 minutes,
Sir: Ok, come in. [ I came inside]
Sir: Mr. Kallol. Baithiye Sir. [Sit down]
Me: Thank you, Sir. [Now, he started reading my answer sheet in front of me and with a smiling face]
Sir: Why your score in graduation is so poor?
[ I scored 84% in Madhyamik, 74% in HS, 59% in B.Sc. and 80.02 in MCA]
I told the reason but, he was not satisfied.
Sir: So, you know Hypertext Preprocessor [PHP]?
Me: Yes sir, actually I have done my minor project in PHP and MySQL.
[I brought my Project report with me, because I was very much confident with my project and I wanted the interviewer to ask me from that project]
Sir: What are you doing in major project?
Me: I haven't decided till now.
Sir: And, what about minor project?
[I was waiting for this moment]
Me: I have built an "Internal mail Server" using PHP and MySQL.
Sir: Ok, Draw and discuss about your project. Why you have used PHP, which protocol you have used, which ports you have used, etc.
[He gave me a pen and paper]
I discussed about every detail of the whole project. And after that I told that I have bought my project report. And he wanted to see it. And I had to explain again while showing the snapshots of my project. And we discussed about jsp and php. He asked some codes of PHP. Some basic queries from SQL.
Sir: Have you remembered C [with a smiling face]?
[I surprised because of this question, How can a MCA student forget C?]
Me: How can I forget it sir? It is the first programming language I have learned.
Sir: So, You have learned C first? I have learned PASCAL, COBOL, FORTRAN first [ In a chatty mood ]. I have done my MCA from NIT, Rourkela. My all india rank was 8. Ok, Kallol say something about you, your family. [I told my name, address, father's name, occupation, my strength, weakness, why they should take me ]
Sir: Thank you, Mr. Kallol, you may go now. Thanks for giving your time. Wish you a happy new year.
[After hand-shake]
Me: Sir, I have some questions, if you don't mind.
Sir: Ok, carry on.
Me: Sir, How was my interview?
Sir: Good, good.
Me: Which degree you prefer the most, B.Tech, MCA or M,Tech?
Sir: Quality matters, if we get a B.Sc student with that quality we will take him.
Me: What we have to do after being selected in cognizant? If we can of-course.
Sir: A continuous training will be provided to you, and after that an exam will be taken. If you can not qualify you will be thrown out. Not only you, everyone have to qualify that test.
Me: Whats the current project going on in Kolkata?
Sir: [Smiling] At this moment 6000 project are going on. Which one among them, I will tell?
Me: Sir, my last question, which technology is used the most in Cognizant?
Sir: Almost everything. Which will bring money, we will do that.
Me: Ok Sir. Thank you.
[ After wishing happy new year and shaking hands again I came out]
My interview was going on for 1 hour. But, I was so much tensed that I thought, it was perhaps for 20-25 mins. After 9 days, on 6th January, 2011 the final result published. 209 students were selected. And My name was in the list again. And, believe me friends, getting a job in your dream company is an wonderful feeling.
So, don't be tensed, just go and crack the interview. And remember some points.
- Don't cay CTS in the interview..Just say cognizant.
- Always keep a smile on your face.
- Always tell the truth.
- Be conscious about your spoken English.
- Don't try to be over-smart.
Best of luck guys!
